Ryan Walters, the polarizing superintendent of Oklahoma schools who has captured national attention for his hyperconservative education agenda, is resigning from office. NOTUS on Wednesday first reported that he was considering the move.
Following publication of this article Wednesday, conservative nonprofit organization Teacher Freedom Alliance announced that Walters will become its chief executive officer.
Two sources told NOTUS on Wednesday that an announcement could come as early as this week. Ultimately, it came sooner. There had been speculation among elected officials in Oklahoma that Walters had another job lined up. Walters did not respond to a text requesting comment.
Walters, who has aligned himself closely with President Donald Trump, had said he was considering a run for Oklahoma’s 2026 gubernatorial race and would make a decision this summer — but never announced additional plans.
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He has served in his superintendent role since 2023, and launched himself into the national limelight with his headline-grabbing efforts to push Oklahoma’s school system further to the right, including explicit attempts to erase the line between church and state.
Among those was a push to put Bibles — specifically a version that matched Bibles endorsed by Trump — in every Oklahoma classroom and worked the book into curriculum statewide. He supported what would have been the first publicly funded religious charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which a deadlocked Supreme Court decision barred from receiving public funds in May. And Walters advocated for tax credits for parents who enroll their children in a conservative online school affiliated with PragerU, a nonprofit organization that develops conservative curriculum.
Recently, he partnered with PragerU to develop a test intended to weed out “woke” educators moving to Oklahoma from blue states like California and New York. And on Tuesday, Walters announced a partnership with Turning Point USA, an organization founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, to put a chapter of the organization in every Oklahoma high school.
All the while, he’s taken to national television and social media, aligning himself with the MAGA movement — including by trying to pick fights with some of Trump’s biggest critics, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Walters’ sensationalist style eventually soured his relationship with Gov. Kevin Stitt, a former ally. In the ongoing gubernatorial race to replace Stitt, education issues are a top concern for voters and candidates, especially given the state’s near-last ranking in education outcomes in the country.
Walters has been increasingly absent from Oklahoma’s education world. In August, Education Secretary Linda McMahon excluded Walters from a meeting when she visited Oklahoma. He also developed a pattern of skipping Oklahoma Board of Education meetings. In late July, school board members alleged they saw naked women on a television in Walters’ office during a meeting, which his office downplayed. In early September, Walters didn’t show up for the first state school board meeting since that incident was reported. The board carried out the meeting without him.
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This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and Oklahoma Watch. It has been updated to reflect that Walters is becoming CEO of a conservative nonprofit organization.
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